The cost of a "free" burrito

I'll go ahead and put this one in the "worth every penny I paid for it" category. You see, "free" means that something is gratis and without cost. It's also a pretty vague word in and of itself.

Well, I didn't need my wallet to claim my "free" burrito from the freshly opened Chipotle restaurant in downtown KC, but it didn't come without some damage.

First, I totally mis-guessed Chipotle's address in my last post. It's actually at 14th and Walnut. I didn't ride too far out of my way to get there, but I did overshoot it a bit.

Then, when I arrived, I saw what appeared to be a line stretching about half a city block, then up some stairs and presumably into the dining establishment. A few hundred people, maybe. So, I chained my bike up and took my place in the queue.

When I got to the stairs I had seen -- half an hour after I began my wait, I noticed something. The line didn't go up the stairs and into the building. It went up the stairs, around a commons area, and then into Chipotle. I was only halfway through the line.

More than an hour after departure, I show back up to work, foil football in grip. I tote it to my cubicle, log in to see that my scripts are (obviously) done running, and get back to work while getting my grub on between keystrokes.

Nearing the end of my work day, I'm not feelin' too hot. I didn't feel all that great this morning, either, but this is something else. Something gnarly. On the bus ride home, I felt like I was getting car sick. Hoping some fresh air would help me out, I rode homeward (into the headwind this time) and stopped by the pet store for some supplies we needed.

It's now approaching 8:00 PM, some 7 hours after I ate. I have nausea. I have two layers of socks on, thermal underwear top and bottom, a hoodie, cargo pants, and I'm wrapped up in a camping sleeping bag. And I STILL have the chills. It's 68°F in here, which usually feels pretty good. My wife's asleep, and I don't want to wake her up by rooting through the master bathroom for a thermometer, but I think that "free" burrito is definitely getting its own money's worth out of me.

Now, I can't guarantee it was Chipotle. I was, in fact, feeling crappy before I ate. But still, I have to wonder. Trying to feed hundreds or maybe 1,000 hungry freeloading Kansas Citians, did they really, really make sure the meat was at 165° for a sustained period before scooping it into those tortillas?